Made to be Broken
by Sir Dolan
Summary: AU! As the world falls apart five heroes must rise and become outcasts to reclaim the souls of two fallen dragons. As their journey through the territories continues, unexpected bonds form. (Ratings will go up as sh*t goes down)
1. Prologue

**Summary: **As the world falls apart five heroes must rise and become outcasts to reclaim the souls of two fallen dragons. As their journey through the territories continues, unexpected bonds form.

**Warning: **AU! Slash – Grovyle/Dusknoir (PMD: Explorers of the Sky), Humanised, Eventual fluff, Eventual lemons (probably), Language, Violence, Possible gore. **Don't like, don't read!**

**Disclaimer: **Grovyle, Dusknoir and all of the legendaries don't belong to me. OoC's on the other hand do.

**Author's Note: **I'm so excited for this story! This is gonna be my first multi-chapter fanfic, and of course it's gonna be for Acteonshipping! The story won't just be Acteonshipping 24/7 as they have a world to save...again. I swear these guys have no free time.

I have the storyline and most of the chapters planned out for this, but I'm open to suggestions for the story or for characters! I have all five heroes planned down already (pretty sure you can guess at least two of them :P), but if you'd like any other characters from Pokémon, be it PMD 2 or from the other games, I'll do my best to try and add them in.

I'd also appreciate any spelling/grammar mistakes to be pointed out so I can correct them. xD I have a habit of missing things sometimes.

Anyway, without further ado... Enjoy!

* * *

**Prologue**

The newly formed world was still unstable and fragile. Time and space barely existed and there was next to no balance. The creator of the world blocked it off from the rest of the universe until he felt it was stable enough to handle being dependent. The creator set to work to make guardians for the new planet, and so three orb-like eggs were created. One was blue, one was red, and the last was gold. They immediately glowed as they came into existence and the planet stabilised ever-so-slightly. Time began to flow, space began to expand and balance was slowly taking hold. The creator's stability that he so carefully made was finally taking shape.

The creator gave some of his power to each of the eggs. They each glowed brighter as raw energy raced through them, and shining cracks formed over the eggs before large waves of light were released. The eggs began to grow and change shape as the energy raced through their bodies and became their own strength. Three large dragons replaced the eggs, and each let out their own mighty roar.

The stability of the planet solidified as the three dragons took on their roles. The dragon of steel ruled over time, helping it flow fluently through the existence of the world. The dragon of water ruled over space, expanding the dimensions around the planet so it could be a part of the galaxy it was created in. The dragon of shadows took control of the balance of the planet, helping its creator with the stability that could easily crack.

The creator felt his duty was done and went into a deep slumber. Before going dormant, he gave life to the planet and asked the three dragons to watch over it in his absence. The first being disappeared deep into universe, entrusting the care of his carefully formed world to his children.

Many millennia passed and like they promised, the dragons carefully watched over the planet. After many years an intelligent civilisation existed on the planet and treated the three dragons as Gods. They worshipped them and the other creatures that came into existence to keep the stability.

Everything was peaceful until a pitch black shadow was born. The shadow couldn't enjoy the world like the civilisation or the other creatures. Its very existence was shunned for what it was and it grew bitter because of that. As time went on its bitterness grew into hatred and anger, so it began plotting. It wanted the world to feel as shunned and as hated as it felt. The shadow used its powers to manipulate the dreams of the civilisation, splitting them into three groups. It carefully divided people into worshipping groups so they would only be on side for one of the dragons. The shadow worked slowly, carefully moulding them. The dragons suspected nothing.

When its first task was complete the shadow began to manipulate the dragons' dreams. First it began whispering uncertainties about the other dragons until uncertainties became doubts. Those doubts then became suspicions and mistrust began to show between the three dragons. The fragile stability the creator had made began to crack.

The shadow backed away and allowed its plan to follow through on its own. The three dragons began to argue and bicker as the suspicion and mistrust grew from their dreams. The more they argued the larger the cracks became. The civilisation began to notice the hostility between the dragons and began arguing among themselves, speaking up for their respected God. As the unbalance continued the first hole in the stability of the planet appeared and the dragon of shadows sensed the weakness and immediately snapped out of the shadow's spell. He noticed the unbalance of the civilisation and tried to reason with his brother dragons. They would not listen and only took their brother's warning as suspicious. Realising he could not break the spell over them, the dragon of shadows returned to keeping balance and peace over the world. He tried to repair the cracks and the holes that were appearing more and more, and secretly hoped the creator of their world would return.

It was painfully obvious that things would not be that easy. As the two dragon's mistrust and suspicions escalated into physical fighting, the civilisation began to fight as well. The followers of the dragon of shadows had tried to defuse the fighting and the arguing, but their efforts were futile. The dragon's fighting began to cause physical damage to the planet and this enraged their third brother. He decided to act and intercepted his brothers' fighting and blasted them away from each other just as the creator of the planet returned.

The cracks and holes in the stability had gotten so bad that the creator had sensed them. He was disappointed by the shadow dragon's display and banished him to another realm before his child had the chance to explain. As soon as he had been banished his brothers attacked the creator with such ferocity and speed that he didn't have enough time to defend himself. He immediately sent himself into a dormant stage to try and heal the damage that he sustained.

From the darker side of the world, the shadow dragon watched in dismay as chaos began to break out all over the planet. He could feel the stability of the planet disintegrating and felt helpless that he could do nothing to stop it. His anger at his brothers grew as he continued to watch them fight. They were meant to protect the world! What were they doing fighting each other?

Time dragged on and the world was truly dark. Time was stalling and space ceased growing. Balance was a thing of the past and the shadow that had caused it felt elated. They were finally feeling what it had felt and was enjoying it to the fullest. It began to get cocky with its success and decided to manipulate things more. The dragon of shadows briefly sensed the other shadow's presence before bristling in absolute rage. His brothers had taken their fighting onto the planet's surface. Innocent lives were being extinguished.

He roared in fury and contempt. Using the new strength that he didn't know he had obtained from his new form, he broke out of the darker world through reflections and headed straight for his brothers. Before either dragon had time to react, civilisation watched in shock and horror as the shadow dragon attacked his brothers and took the light from their beings and solidified them before hiding them. The cold stone was all that was left of the brother dragons as they landed, posed as perfect as statues. The third brother gave a cry of defeat and hopelessness before returning to the darker world.

He knew their existences in the world wouldn't sustain time and space forever. The stability of it was cracked and now had holes that couldn't be filled.

The pitch black shadow had watched it all before disappearing.

* * *

Five eyes were either narrowed or saddened by the story. As the five heroes closed the book, they all found a reflection to look through. After a moment of staring they all turned away.

A rippled briefly formed within the reflections and a pair of bright yellow eyes stared through.

* * *

Thank you for reading! ^^

I know it's cruel to just leave you with the prologue. I'll try and get the first chapter out in the next couple of days.

I'll be happy to read any reviews or PMs. c:

See you soon!

Dolan


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter Summary: **Grovyle's days are about to change from simple hunting and trading. A new threat is about to take hold of his world.

**Warning: **AU! Slash – Grovyle/Dusknoir (PMD: Explorers of the Sky), Humanised, Eventual fluff, Eventual lemons (probably), Language, Violence, Possible gore. **Don't like, don't read!**

**Disclaimer: **Grovyle, Dusknoir, other characters from any Pokémon games and all of the legendaries don't belong to me. OoC's on the other hand do.

**A/N: **Hello again! Just like I promised, I've uploaded the first chapter within a couple of days (give or take a few hours). I'm not entirely when the next chapter will be up. Hopefully not too long!

I'd really appreciate it if any spelling/grammar mistakes were pointed out so I can correct them. Thank you! c:

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The forest was calm that afternoon. The weather was clear and warm, and perfect for hunting. Grovyle knelt down in some bushes and tilted his bow downwards before silently nocking the arrow. His golden yellow eyes never left sight of the small deer grazing in the clearing by the lake. He froze and held his breath when the creature occasionally looked up and sniffed the air, glancing around nervously before lowering its head to eat again. He was grateful the wind was blowing towards him. He had been following this deer all day and it had now decided to stop and eat. He wasn't about to lose a decent meal for his clan now.

He carefully raised his bow and drew it back before aiming at the doe. It raised its head again and Grovyle cursed internally. Had he made too much noise drawing his bow?

After a tense few moments the deer took a cautious step forward before eating again. Grovyle narrowed his eyes and released the arrow, watching it fly pierce the deer's side. The doe gave a cry of pain before it began to limp away as the shot was not fatal. Almost like a reflex, he leapt out of the bushes and nocked another arrow. Before he could draw and aim he glimpsed another arrow flying out of the trees and straight into the neck of the doe. It fell to the ground limply before twitching its legs in a broken attempt to escape before stilling.

Grovyle quickly drew his bow and aimed it in the direction of where the arrow came from. Adrenaline rushed through his body from the hunt and his fingers itched to summon his blades. He held his breath and tensed as he heard someone rustling through the trees. A red-haired girl came out from behind the trees carrying a bow of her own. He let out a relieved sigh before withdrawing his arrow and allowed his body to relax.

"Lapis, it's you."

Said girl gave him a mischievous grin. "Hello to you too,"

"Make yourself known next time, I could have shot you." He warned her.

"Why are you so jumpy?" she asked with a frown.

"We're close to the border of the Temporal territory, _that's_ why." Grovyle growled in a way that says, 'Isn't-it-obvious?'

"You _know_ Temporals wouldn't cross the border. Unless they have permission they'd be killed in an instant." Lapis argued.

He sighed and shook his head. "Help me get this deer back." He said as he shouldered his bow and pulled out the arrows.

Together they picked up the dead animal and began to carry it back into the woods. After a few minutes Lapis stopped and told Grovyle she had set up some snares earlier. He simply nodded and before putting the deer down, watching the girl dash off into the woods to collect anything that she may have caught.

He leaned against a tree in to wait; occasionally glancing back at the dead deer to make sure it was still there. It wouldn't have surprised him if a scavenger would try to take the deer right under his nose.

Lapis finally came grinning and it didn't take long for Grovyle to notice why. Hanging around her neck were four rabbits freshly picked from a snare.

"Nice catch." He told her as they picked up the deer again.

He frowned when her deep blue eyes sparkled. He _knew_ that look. "What have you done?"

"I haven't done anything." She said a little too innocently.

"_Lapis_…"

"I haven't done anything _bad_!"

"So you _have_ done something!"

"Okay, yes maybe… But that's not-"

"You two really need to learn to keep your voices down."

The deer was immediately dropped and two bows were drawn with arrows aimed directly at a very startled Chikorita. Her eyes widened and she quickly drew up her hands. After a brief tense moment all three let out a breath of relief before the bows were shouldered again.

"Bloody hell, Chikorita…" Lapis breathed again. "Don't do that."

Grovyle frowned at the green-haired girl. "What are you doing out here so late?"

"Samurott told me to come get you." She said rather urgently. "He has something important to announce and he's summoned the entire clan to a meeting."

"Is it about the Temporals?" he demanded.

"I don't know. He didn't exactly give me an explanation for the meeting."

"We should go." Lapis said as she grabbed the deer's back legs. "Grovyle, help me with this."

The three quickly made it up the path and entered their clan's camp. The camp was relatively large with the poorest members living on the outskirt of the camp in tents made of wood and weak cloth or weak leather. As the trio moved deeper into camp the tents began to change and develop into stronger, taller tents made by more expensive materials. The streets of the camp were full of people getting ready for the meeting that Samurott had planned. Grovyle noted how the streets were still littered with waste and discarded rotten food. Usually the cleaners are thorough with clearing up the streets…which meant they hadn't even started. Alarm bells went off in his head and he turned to look at the meeting stage in the distance.

"What is it?" Lapis asked catching Grovyle's attention.

He looked back at her and realised he had stopped. Both girls had worried expressions and their eyes were focused on him.

"It's nothing." He lied before leading them to the food storage.

The food storage was a large metal building near the centre of the camp. Despite the building being so large, none of the trio had ever seen past the four sets double doors into the storage rooms where the food is preserved. Clan members would bring meat, fish, berries and crops here in exchange for money. There were a dozen or so wooden tables in front of the double doors with weighing scales on either side of them. All of the tables were free and the last of the clan members working were packing up. One table was still set up for last minute traders.

"You three are seriously pushing the time limit." The clan member serving them growled.

"Sorry." Grovyle replied, not sounding very apologetic as he and Lapis dumped the dead deer on the scales.

After weighing and checking the deer and rabbits the clan member gave them a small currency bag. Grovyle took it and peeked inside, pleasantly surprised by the amount.

"Four silver coins and three bronze coins?" he asked incredulously. Behind him Lapis and Chikorita gaped in surprise.

"If you're complaining then you can give it back." The clan member said lowly. Grovyle immediately closed the bag and tied it to his waist. "Thought so, now get to the meeting stage. It's gonna start any minute now."

The three teens thanked him and dashed out of the building towards the meeting stage. The streets were relatively empty now and still littered with rubbish. He ignored Lapis' comment on how disgusting it was as they made their way up the steps to the meeting stage. Most of the clan was already there with the addition of the last few stragglers appearing. Their clan leader, Samurott, was already standing on the podium, waiting to address his clan.

Samurott was a tall, muscular man. He had narrowed red eyes and light grey hair that reached down to his shoulders. He wore handcrafted steel armour that had somehow been dyed a deep blue colour with a golden helmet that was styled to have the horn of a narwhal. On either side of his waist were large swords sheathed in gold. Despite his extravagant look, his expression was all but smug, cocky and arrogant. Wisdom glinted in his eyes from his time of leading the clan and an almost proud expression graced his face despite his frown, almost like he was a proud parent.

He raised a black-gloved hand to the middle of his chest before speaking. "Thank you for attending this meeting. I apologise for it being so abrupt, but what I have to share is extremely important."

The clan members muttered and whispered among themselves. The brief moment of alarm Grovyle had felt earlier came back with a vengeance. He could sense the uncertainty among his people. He glanced at Lapis and Chikorita who wore worried expressions. Well, Chikorita looked worried, Lapis simply frowned.

"I call for silence!" Samurott shouted out and everyone fell silent immediately. "It's come to the officials' attention that disturbances have been happening all over the land recently. Strange phenomena like time changing speed, almost as if it was fast forwarding for a brief moment before returning to normal. There have also been strange disturbances with dimensions with holes opening up momentarily. No one has been reported falling or stepping through these holes has they have not been open long enough for such an accident to occur. Unfortunately, we cannot find the origin to this problem and it only seems to be developing at a slow pace.

"Despite the dire sound of the situation we may have discovered the culprits who are behind this." The clan leader paused for a moment to allow what he said to sink in. "We believe the culprits could be Renegades. Not outcasts, _true_ Renegades."

Harsh murmurs broke out through the crowd. The whispers consisted of "violent traitors", "followers of the dark dragon" and "unbalanced pigs". Grovyle felt Lapis tense in silent anger next to him. While her expression remained stoic he knew she'd be raging and ranting about it when they returned home.

Samurott spoke up again. "That is why I must implore you to report any disturbances you come across, no small they may seem. If you spot disturbances in time and space, report to an officer. If you find the trail of a Renegade, or come into contact with a Renegade, tell an officer. Otherwise, please continue as you have been and try not to dwell on the matter. We _will_ fight this, and we _will _rise against the Temporals in this war!"

Cheers and roars of excitement and elation filled the meeting stage. Samurott quietened them down before giving them one last warning to stay safe. People began filtering out just as the sun was setting behind the hills, dyeing the camp in a crimson red.

As the trio made their way down the steps Lapis stopped and one of the billboards. It took a moment for Grovyle and Chikorita to even notice their friend had stopped in the first place. They stood by her side as she glared at the wanted posters for Renegades.

"I hate this." She said bitterly. When neither Grovyle nor Chikorita spoke she continued. "They're people too. They have lives too. I don't care if some of them used to be Temporals…most of the Renegades here used to be Spatials like us!"

"Lapis, you need to understand…" Grovyle tried to say but Lapis abruptly spoke up again.

"No, it's _you_ who needs to understand!" she shouted angrily. She turned to face him fully, her eyes bright with anger. "All people care about is proving which stupid dragon is right and which one is wrong. That's what started this fucking war in the first place! Well, news flash, _both of them are wrong_!"

"Lapis…! Keep your voice down…!" Chikorita hissed almost helplessly.

"No! I _won't_ keep my voice down! What, will they mark me as outcast and make me Renegade? Where'd the right to free speech go?"

Finally having enough, Grovyle grabbed the angry teen by the waist and hauled her over his shoulder. He ignored her angry protests and vile profanities as he carried her back to their tent with a worried looking Chikorita following closely behind. As soon as the taller girl closed the entrance to their home he threw a furious and embarrassed Lapis down on the floor. She yelped before glaring up at the greenette.

"What the fuck was that for?!" she demanded.

"You need to learn to control your damn tempter." He said calmly despite the anger flaring in his gut. "Do you even _know_ what it's like to be an outcast? It isn't as pleasant as you obviously think it'll be. You will be stripped of all possessions besides the clothes on your back and the weapons you can summon." He grabbed her right arm and pushed up the sleeve to reveal the red clan mark they all share. "The outcast mark will be burned over your clan mark and you will most likely be beaten before released off of your chains and given approximately two hours to recover and leave before everyone hunts you down. Does that really appeal to you?"

The air was heavy and tense as the two stared each other down. Chikorita stood awkwardly behind them, glancing back from the floor to them. Lapis released a slow breath before looking down, gently pulling her arm from Grovyle's grip.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly in understanding.

Grovyle simply nodded despite the fact that the teen couldn't see his movements. She stood up and turned without saying a word before entering her sleeping room and closing the curtain. He stood up and sighed before walking over to their safe. He put the money from the trade in before locking it back up.

"…Grovyle…" Chikorita whispered and motioned him to go in her sleeping room.

He raised an eyebrow but followed her nonetheless. He quietly closed the curtain before turning around to face his other friend, only to frown at her grim expression.

"…It's my fault…" she whispered dejectedly.

"…What is?" he asked.

"…The book I bought that we read the other day. I shouldn't have let her read it… She was already curious as it is and now…" she trailed off and looked away.

"…What about you?"

"Huh?"

"…Are you curious as well?"

Chikorita looked up at Grovyle to see that he didn't look angry. His question didn't hold any accusation in it either.

"…Sure, I'm curious about the world. I'd call anyone who says they haven't thought about it at least once a liar." She gave him a curious look. "…What about you, Grovyle? Have _you_ ever been curious about the world?"

An old fear struck the lithe youth and he pushed down the memories that threatened to resurface. He turned and opened the curtain to leave before halting.

"I thought about travelling the world _once_." He said darkly. "It brought me nothing but trouble."

He stormed over to his sleeping room and roughly drew the curtains over. He sat against one of the poles that were holding the tent up and curled in on himself before letting out a defeated breath.

He wouldn't let that hope rise again.

* * *

Hello again.

I wanted to introduce the world Grovyle and Dusknoir lived in before actually having them meet. Dusknoir will make an appearance in the next chapter, don't worry. c: The world they live in is basically in a world war at the moment. After the fight between Dialga and Palkia the clans who worship them have been split ever since.

Followers of Dialga: Temporals.

Followers of Palkia: Spatials.

Followers of Giratina: True Renegades. There are not many of them left as they went into hiding when they were being hunted.

Outcasts: Renegades. They were given the name 'Renegades' as they are treated the same as True Renegades.

I'll also be happy to read any reviews or PMs. c:

Thank you for reading! See you soon!

Dolan


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Summary:** Grovyle decides to go on an early morning hunting trip only to come face to face with who he assumes is an enemy.

**Warning:** Slash – Grovyle/Dusknoir (PMD: Explorers of the Sky), Humanised, Slow build, Fluff, Eventual lemons (looking unlikely), Swearing, Violence, Possible gore. **Don't like don't read.**

**Disclaimer:** Grovyle, Dusknoir and any other character from Pokémon do not belong to me. OC's like Lapis do.

**A/N:** Hello! I know, I know, the wait was way too long. After uploading the first chapter I kind of thought, "Well, I'm not sure where this is going to go anymore," and I was seriously tempted to discontinue it before deciding I'm going to figure out its direction.

And then something bad happened. I got Writer's Block. Yeah. After uploading the prologue and the first chapter of 'Haunted Carrier' (it's on FictionPress) something just happened to my creativity and writing. I looked over my fanfics (I really need to update 'Shenanigans' at some point) and I saw a few of you fav-ing and following 'Made to be Broken' and it made me _really_ want to write more of it.

And then one of you reviewed it. It made me so happy I began writing. Thank you so much Wolf579 for your review.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2

Grovyle woke with a start the following morning. He was breathing heavily and his clothes were sticking to his body from the cold sweat. He calmed his breathing and drew a shaky hand to his face, cursing at the splitting headache he was developing. He didn't know what time it was, and he honestly couldn't bring himself to care as he peeled off his sleeping clothes and under garments. He quickly changed into his day clothes; a pair of dark green jeans with a red t-shirt and a green jacket over the top before tying his hair back in a tight ponytail.

He gently pulled the curtain back and glanced at both Lapis' and Chikorita's curtains. No movement could be heard from either room, so the lithe youth quickly slipped on his shoes and grabbed a piece of bread from their food store. Stuffing his breakfast in his mouth, he shouldered his quiver and bow after making sure he had enough arrows. He was just at the entrance of their tent when a voiced stopped him.

"Grovyle…?" a sleepy voice murmured.

Said teen turned around to see Chikorita tiredly rubbing her eyes. Her hair that was usually in a long ponytail was loose and fell over her shoulders as she yawned. It was still dawn, what was she doing up? To be honest what was _he_ doing up?

"Go back to sleep." Grovyle said quietly.

"Where are you going?"

"Hunting, go back to sleep."

"Hunting?" she frowned. "Why? Don't we have enough money to buy some meat?"

"Just stress relieving, now go back to sleep."

"Grovyle, you _know_ you're not supposed to kill game for fun. It's clan law."

"I'm not, now, for the last time, _go back to sleep_."

"You'll be back later, right?" Grovyle saw the real question in Chikorita's eyes. _You'll be back to make up with her, right?_

"Of course." He assured her with a soft smile. "Look after Lapis while I'm out."

"Will do," she smiled back.

The greenette turned and left the large tent. He suppressed a slight shiver as he walked out into the cool early morning air. He took a deep breath and exhaled, watching the cloud of condensation disappear into the air. He glanced at the sun that was just starting to peak over the trees, causing the morning due to glisten in the sunlight. This was possibly one thing man couldn't taint.

He sighed and started walking towards the path he usually took for hunting. The camp streets were empty and still filthy. The cleaners certainly had a job today, serves them right for slacking off after the meeting. He blinked when a hound sniffed at some trashed and growled in disgust. The sight almost made him laugh. Even the dogs couldn't stand the filth.

Grovyle couldn't help but feel relieved when he made his way into the forest. Usually when he hunted he was on his own besides the occasional hunt with Lapis, and that was the way he liked it. He had never exactly been an antisocial person, and will make conversation when need be, but he was never exactly a sociable person either. He liked his space and time alone more than most, and when he needed it, he _needed_ it. He'd use the time to clear his thoughts and catch a bit of game as he calmed himself. There's no way the teen would be able to make it up to Lapis if he was still riled up. They'd just end up having another argument.

He closed his eyes and listened to the birds' morning songs as he came out into the clearing. The birds are usually the first indicator if someone was already hunting. They either knew Grovyle wasn't going to hunt, or didn't particularly care if he was going to because he never hunted them.

The lake Grovyle usually hunted near was relatively close to the borderline between Spatial and Temporal territory. He didn't exactly like hunting there, but that's where he could get the most game. He was always careful to never cross the border in case there was a Temporal around, but he'd began to notice something that bothered him greatly.

Snare traps near the border were being set. Sometimes they were set on the Spatial side, sometimes on the Temporal side. When Grovyle first saw them he thought they were Lapis', but closer inspection proved that they belonged to someone else. He always removed them if they were on his side and discarded them when he returned back to camp. Once Grovyle had come across a snare that had caught a rabbit, and he had stubbornly followed the law of a hunter over Spatial law no matter how much his mind objected.

The sun was a little higher in the sky as Grovyle approached the lake. The morning was calm, so the lake's surface barely rippled and was almost motionless, but it still sparkled in the morning light. The lithe youth allowed himself to watch the water, realising he hadn't gone fishing in a while, when he heard a slight rustling sound to his right. Grovyle pulled out his bow and an arrow in record time and nocked the arrow skilfully before aiming it in the direction he heard the rustling. He stood tensely and his golden irises scanned the green foliage. After a few tense moments Grovyle decided to call out.

"Who's there?" he demanded sternly. "I know you're there, so come out!"

Grovyle flinched when he heard a deep chuckle. More rustling could be heard until a young man came out of the foliage with a cocky smirk on his face. Grovyle immediately began to eye him with a scrutinised look. The stranger had ebony black hair with a long fringe that slightly covered his left eye. His eyes were russet red and calm, his skin was extremely pale, and he was a few feet taller than Grovyle. He definitely had more muscle than the teen, if they had a physical confrontation the ebony-head would definitely win if Grovyle couldn't dodge in time. He was wearing dark clothes, a pair of black trousers and what looked like a dark grey cloak with odd yellow patterns sown on it. Grovyle wasn't completely sure what the stranger was wearing underneath, but he couldn't make out any weapons.

When he looked back up he frowned when he saw amusement in the stranger's eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked evenly, keeping the arrow trained on the young man.

"Dusknoir, who are you?" Dusknoir said smoothly.

"Grovyle," he replied, "what are you doing here? Where are you from?"

"I'm hunting here." Dusknoir said far too innocently for Grovyle's liking. "I'm from a clan back that way." He continued before nodding his head back in the Temporal direction.

Grovyle's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're a Temporal?"

"I assume that's what this mark means." The blacknette said sarcastically before raising his left arm and pulling back his black sleeve, revealing the blue mark of a Temporal on his forearm.

"So _you're_ the one who's been setting the snares around here." Grovyle said with conviction.

"And _you_ must be the one who has been removing them." Dusknoir said before frowning. "You didn't remove my last one. Why?"

"You already had a catch." Grovyle said. "It was your kill, not mine. I had no right to take it so I left it." He narrowed his eyes at the distrust in the other's. "I didn't poison it either."

"No, I made sure of that."

They stood tensely for another moment before Grovyle spoke. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you back to my clan if you continue to hunt on our ground."

Dusknoir outright laughed at that. "Will you now?"

The lithe teen glared at him. "What's so funny?"

"Heh, I simply found it amusing that a pup like you thinks you can easily apprehend me." He snorted before smirking. "It's quite a laugh."

Grovyle's cheeks flamed with embarrassment and anger burned through his veins. "W-what did you say? Who's the one with the bow?"

"Who's the Ghost-type here?" Dusknoir asked seriously, all of the amusement disappeared from his face in a second.

Alarm bells went off in Grovyle's head. He tried to mask his expression, hoping he didn't look uneasy or nervous. He knew all Dusknoir had to do his shroud himself with Energy and he'd be invisible and untouchable to an arrow.

"Fine then, we'll do this differently." Grovyle said confidently despite his nerves. "I might not be able to hit you with an arrow, but I can still hit you with Energy."

"You won't win." Dusknoir said decisively.

"You don't know that until the battle is over." Grovyle said as he put the arrow back in his quiver and placed both the quiver and the bow on the ground.

The Temporal blinked in surprise before smirking. "You have spirit, I like that."

"You won't like it for long, that spirit is gonna kick your ass." The Spatial replied with a grin.

Grovyle began to gather Energy in his hands, glowing green as a they clenched around the handles of blades that appeared. Dusknoir watched as two long, sharp blades grew out of the other end of the handles in a bright green light, like a plant breaking and growing out of a seed. Grovyle aimed a blade at the blacknette in front of him with a determined expression that obviously said "I'm not backing down". Dusknoir took the challenge and also began to gather Energy in his hands. Black shadows engulfed his hands and solidified into dark grey gloves. Grovyle could feel the strong Energy practically drip off them, but refused to be intimidated.

"You know of the consequences if you lose?" Dusknoir asked as the shadows began to gather around his left glove.

"I know of them." Grovyle replied calmly as his blades began to glow green. "That's why I won't lose!"

Grovyle lunged at Dusknoir with incredible speed. His blades were positioned and ready to attack the Ghost-type at full strength. Dusknoir watched the teen's movement before dodging with ease. Grovyle's eyes widened in surprise and horror before receiving a brutal punch that was engulfed in shadows. As soon as he landed on the grass he struggled to recover and get to his feet. He only _just_ managed to dodge a dark blast of energy thrown a him, staggering to his feet to face Dusknoir. He realised he was already panting with exhaustion while Dusknoir didn't even have a bead of sweat on him. A feeling of dread struck Grovyle like a knife as his instincts screamed at him to flee.

Something passed over Dusknoir's face for a split second. "You know how this going to end."

Grovyle didn't reply. His heart was hammering against his chest with apprehension and fear…_fear_! He refused to be afraid. He refused to back down. He wasn't about to lose and die on his own land. In a moment of stubborn stupidity Grovyle lunged again to attack, and everything became slow in his mind. He could see the fist frozen in ice flying at him and he knew he was too close to dodge. It felt like his heart was in his throat as the fist came into contact with his chest. The world paused for a moment as he made eye contact with Dusknoir for a split second.

And then the pain exploded.

Grovyle cried out in pain as the attack had a devastating effect. He fell back on the ground and let go of his blades, ignoring the fact that they disintegrated into wasted Energy. He curled in on himself as the pain wracked his body wave after wave. His eyes were clenched shut and he gritted his teeth against the pain. He tried to breath, but the agony was making it difficult. He sensed a presence loom over and forced his eyes to open. He stared up at Dusknoir who was looking down with an unreadable expression.

_This is it._ He thought with a feeling of defeat.

Grovyle took a shaky breath. "W-what…are you waiting for?" he gritted out between waves of pain. "If you're going to kill me…just do it…"

Shock became evident in Dusknoir's eyes. The dark gloves on his hands dissipate when he looked away, obviously unable to comply. "I'm not a killer," was all he said before turning and walking away.

Grovyle opened his mouth to speak but his voice wouldn't work. His surroundings began to fade to black as he watched the Temporal disappear into the forest.

* * *

Thank you for reading! I really appreciate it. Feel free to leave a review and I'll happily read it. c:

Dolan


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